The Efficacy of Acupuncture for Treating Depression-Related Insomnia Compared with a Control Group: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture as monotherapy and as an alternative therapy in treating depression-related insomnia. Data Source. Seven databases were searched starting from 1946 to March 30, 2016. Study Eligibility Criteria. Randomized-controlled trials of adult subjects (18–75 y) who had depression-related insomnia and had received acupuncture. Results. 18 randomized-controlled clinical trials (RCTs) were introduced in this meta-analysis. The findings determined that the acupuncture treatment made significant improvements in PSQI score (MD = −2.37, 95% CI −3.52 to −1.21) compared with Western medicine. Acupuncture combined with Western medicine had a better effect on improving sleep quality (MD = −2.63, 95% CI −4.40 to −0.86) compared with the treatment of Western medicine alone. There was no statistical difference (MD = −2.76, 95% CI −7.65 to 2.12) between acupuncture treatment and Western medicine towards improving the HAMD score. Acupuncture combined with Western medicine (MD = −5.46, CI −8.55 to −2.38) had more effect on improving depression degree compared with the Western medicine alone. Conclusion. This systematic review indicates that acupuncture could be an alternative therapy to medication for treating depression-related insomnia.

Risk of bias assessments and reporting quality of systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials examining acupuncture for depression: An overview and meta‐epidemiology study

“…A total of 39 SRs were included, including 24 published in Chinese and 15 published in English (Figure 1). The publication year ranged from 2005 to 2017 (Figures 2–3).…”

“…A meta‐analysis was conducted in 35 SRs . Of the 39 SRs, 33 were published in journals, 1 was published in The Cochrane Library, and 5 were published as dissertations . The types of conditions included depression ( n = 21), poststroke depression ( n = 12), postpartum depression ( n = 2), type 2 diabetes mellitus with depression ( n = 1), depression‐related insomnia ( n = 1), depressive psychosis ( n = 1), and perimenopausal depressive disorder ( n = 1) (Table 1).…”

“…Of the 39 included SRs, 37 conducted a ROB assessment . The commonly used ROB tools were the Jadad scale (62%, n = 23) and Cochrane ROB tool (35%, n = 13) (Table 2).…”

“…A total of 39 SRs were included, [9][10][11][12] conducted in 35 SRs. 9,11,12,[18][19][20][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52] Of the 39 SRs, 33 were published in journals, [9][10][11][12][18][19][20][21][22]24,25,27,29,…”

Acupuncture May Improve Quality of Life in Menopausal Women: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Some studies have demonstrated that acupuncture is effective in treating some diseases such as insomnia [18,19,20], Parkinson's disease [21], and functional dyspepsia [22]. Acupuncture is also good at promoting a patient's quality of life, such as helping relieve discomforting symptoms in a tumor patient [17].…”